UF coach says he'll use two quarterbacks

Florida coach Will Muschamp should focus on the defensive side of the ball and leave the offense to offensive coordinator Brent Pease, says News Herald sports writer Jason Shoot.

AP

By Jason Shoot

Published: Monday, August 27, 2012 at 11:36 AM.

GAINESVILLE — Will Muschamp has a well-deserved reputation as one of the brightest defensive minds in college football.

The more days that pass during Muschamp’s tenure as Florida’s head coach, the more indications we get that he should stick to that side of the ball and allow the offensive coordinator more freedom to do his job.

Muschamp said Friday he intends to stick with two quarterbacks — sophomores Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel — when the Gators open the season Sept. 1 at home against Florida Bowling Green. In this circle, that is the improper decision and could derail Florida’s season before it’s even started.

It was one thing for former coach Urban Meyer to use Tim Tebow in particular situations and sub-packages when Tebow was the backup behind Chris Leak in 2006. Tebow added an option element to the Gator offense that Leak did not, and Tebow was a versatile weapon around the goal line. Leak was the unquestionable starter, however. Tebow carried the ball 89 times and threw it 33 times that year. Leak, on the other hand, ran 68 times and passed 190 times.

Coaches are paid big-time money (Muschamp makes over $2.7 million annually) and frequently have to make big-time decisions. Muschamp seems unwilling to hurt either quarterback’s feelings, and that is to the detriment of his program.

Muschamp has indicated he wants to return to a smashmouth-style attack offensively. In other words, more I-formation looks, more sets with two tight ends and a scheme built around a play-action passing attack. That system requires a traditional drop-back quarterback willing to throw from the pocket in the face of an on-coming defense. Only one of the two quarterbacks contending for the starting nod fits that description, and that player is Brissett.

That’s not meant to be critical of Driskel, who is an ideal quarterback for the kind of spread-option scheme Meyer employed at Florida and now at Ohio State. There is a reason Meyer recruited Driskel, after all. Perhaps Muschamp is rewarding Driskel for remaining loyal to the Gators coming out of high school when Muschamp was trying to salvage the team’s 2011 recruiting class in the weeks after he was hired.

GAINESVILLE — Will Muschamp has a well-deserved reputation as one of the brightest defensive minds in college football.

The more days that pass during Muschamp’s tenure as Florida’s head coach, the more indications we get that he should stick to that side of the ball and allow the offensive coordinator more freedom to do his job.

Muschamp said Friday he intends to stick with two quarterbacks — sophomores Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel — when the Gators open the season Sept. 1 at home against Florida Bowling Green. In this circle, that is the improper decision and could derail Florida’s season before it’s even started.

It was one thing for former coach Urban Meyer to use Tim Tebow in particular situations and sub-packages when Tebow was the backup behind Chris Leak in 2006. Tebow added an option element to the Gator offense that Leak did not, and Tebow was a versatile weapon around the goal line. Leak was the unquestionable starter, however. Tebow carried the ball 89 times and threw it 33 times that year. Leak, on the other hand, ran 68 times and passed 190 times.

Coaches are paid big-time money (Muschamp makes over $2.7 million annually) and frequently have to make big-time decisions. Muschamp seems unwilling to hurt either quarterback’s feelings, and that is to the detriment of his program.

Muschamp has indicated he wants to return to a smashmouth-style attack offensively. In other words, more I-formation looks, more sets with two tight ends and a scheme built around a play-action passing attack. That system requires a traditional drop-back quarterback willing to throw from the pocket in the face of an on-coming defense. Only one of the two quarterbacks contending for the starting nod fits that description, and that player is Brissett.

That’s not meant to be critical of Driskel, who is an ideal quarterback for the kind of spread-option scheme Meyer employed at Florida and now at Ohio State. There is a reason Meyer recruited Driskel, after all. Perhaps Muschamp is rewarding Driskel for remaining loyal to the Gators coming out of high school when Muschamp was trying to salvage the team’s 2011 recruiting class in the weeks after he was hired.

Indeed, Driskel was the crown jewel of that class, but times have changed quickly at UF. The decision to stick with the spread-option offense last year was an unmitigated disaster. Muschamp apparently can’t recall that John Brantley, a drop-back passer, was an awful fit for that scheme, and the sub-par results were predictable. Now he seems to be making the same mistake from the opposite end of the spectrum trying to utilize an option quarterback in an offense designed for a pocket passer.

Brissett is no sure thing either, but at least he has the tools best suited for the offense. He struggled mightily when he was thrust onto the field as a true freshman, completing just 46 percent of his passes. Like Brantley, though, Brissett wasn’t a fit in that offense. He’s not a guy who regularly will escape pressure by exiting the pocket and then turn up field to run for a first down. He’s a 6-foot-3, 229-pound quarterback who stands tall in the pocket and has the arm strength to deliver the ball downfield. That’s who he is, and UF shouldn’t tinker with that.

Brissett has been getting all the reps with the Gators’ first-team offense recently because Driskel has been banged up with a shoulder injury. The idea that UF should revert back to the two quarterbacks splitting time with the first team in practice once Driskel is healthy is absolutely misguided. It hurts the progress of both quarterbacks more than it helps.

Offensive coordinator Brent Pease came to Gainesville from Boise State, where he enjoyed considerable success with an undersized quarterback and a system that fit the Broncos’ personnel on the field. He didn’t ask Kellen Moore to scramble around. He didn’t ask Doug Martin to carry the ball out of the Wildcat formation. This decision to use two quarterbacks doesn’t seem to fit Pease’s modus operandi.

Charlie Weis left Florida last December after one season as the team’s offensive coordinator to take over as head coach at Kansas. That decision sure seemed questionable at the time. Now I wonder how much of that decision was based on Muschamp’s involvement in the offense.